Demetris Nichols waved his fingers in anticipation of a pass. He stood at the left arc with his feet squared, knees bent. There was a little more than two minutes remaining in the first half and Nichols had just sunk a pair of 3-pointers in a 24 second span – his fifth and sixth of the half – and he didn’t want to stop the 20,969 fans at the Carrier Dome from chanting his name.

Nichols scored 21 of his 24 points before halftime, pacing Syracuse to an 80-64 win over Texas Christian on Saturday night. The junior finished 6-of-11 from 3-point range and highlighted a half in which the Orange outscored the Horned Frogs 40-25.

TCU stayed close for the opening 12 minutes but a pair of 3-point runs in the first half by Nichols – he hit back-to-back treys from 6:55 to 5:34 and 2:54 to 2:30 – put the game out of reach. ‘(My teammates) found the hot hand and I knocked down my shots,’ Nichols said. ‘I work on (my range) in practice so I know I can make it.’

Nichols’ 24 points tied a career-high set Nov. 18 against Florida. He also set a career-high with four blocks.

But it was Nichols’ range that was particularly impressive on Saturday. He was sinking shots from as far as 25 feet out and he set up as confidently as he has all season.

‘He had really good looks,’ Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said. ‘He can shoot it anywhere out there. Within two to three feet of the line, he can shoot the ball. If he’s getting his feet set right, the range is not an issue.’

Boeheim acknowledged Nichols needs to work on finding other ways to score beyond the 3-point shot. The junior forward only scored three second half points and was 0-for-3 from beyond the arc.

It didn’t matter, though, because freshman guard Eric Devendorf took the reigns. Devendorf, who finished with a career-high 19 points, scored 16 points in the second half. Four of his five 3-pointers came in the second half.

Nichols and Devendorf’s performances helped offset usually-reliable marksman Gerry McNamara. The senior guard didn’t convert any of his six 3-pointers, but did manage a double-double with 11 points and 10 assists.

‘He didn’t shoot the ball well, but he made good plays,’ Boeheim said. ‘He did a really good of offsetting the bad shooting night.’

Despite McNamara’s woes, SU’s 41.4 percent shooting from beyond the arc was their second best performance of the season. Texas Christian played a smaller lineup with a zone defense so Boeheim countered by keeping shooters on the court.

TCU’s smaller lineup forced SU out of its usual zone defense and into man-to-man, helping the Horned Frogs make a few runs. Senior forward Judson Stubbs scored seven points to open the second half as TCU cut the Orange’s commanding lead to 10. McNamara admitted he started thinking about Wednesday’s second half collapse, when the Orange surrendered a 20-point halftime lead.

SU buckled down, though, and kept a healthy cushion until the final buzzer.

‘It seemed like dj vu that second half,’ McNamara said. ‘We started off early by giving up two easy lay-ups, but when it came down to it, we played pretty good defense and made good decisions on the offensive end.’

While the Orange didn’t seem completely satisfied with the win, the players were upbeat about grabbing a win and getting a week to rest before it hosts Colgate on Dec. 10. And with Nichols calling for the ball and Devendorf showing more confidence, SU is slowly putting together the pieces for a difficult stretch of games.

‘We’re moving forward; tonight was a little better,’ McNamara said. ‘It’s a process – especially with guys who aren’t very experienced. Tonight was a positive step.’

Published on December 3, 2005 at 12:00 pm